China: Number of impoverished counties drops

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Many Chinese people, especially those who have struggled with poverty, continue to pursue better lives and, nationally, poverty statistics continue to improve.

The State Council's Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation Development (LGOPAD) released new figures on Friday. They point to significant progress, especially at the county level. Last year, in 40 poverty-stricken counties in China, 28 reported fewer people living in poor conditions.

The main measure of the reduction of poor counties is that the incidence of poverty in the central region is less than two percent, and in the western region to less than three percent. Anti-poverty programs implemented by local governments help provide food and financial aid to families in need.

Experts say the next step is to work harder to ensure that absolute poverty is eliminated by 2020, and that poor counties will be able to solve regional poverty as a whole.

Xia Gengsheng, deputy director of the LGOPAD, stressed that the next step is to sum up and popularize poverty alleviation experience and give play to the role of demonstration in order to provide references for other poverty-stricken counties.